


This is a Date, Isn't It?

by sephcounttheways



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Christmas, Clones, Decapitation, M/M, Missions, Post-Break Up, Road Trips, Sad with a Happy Ending, Third Wheels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:41:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28160307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sephcounttheways/pseuds/sephcounttheways
Summary: No, it's not a date! A date is NOT going on a mission and killing a clone of your ex-boyfriend. But when you're with Sephiroth, it kind of feels like it.
Relationships: Angeal Hewley/Sephiroth, Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth, Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37
Collections: 2020 FF7 Secret Santa





	This is a Date, Isn't It?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SethSuffers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SethSuffers/gifts).



“Why do couples always wanna get in single people's business?”

“You _have_ no business,” Cloud said, making a circle with his thumb and forefinger and looking at Sephiroth through it.

Sephiroth glared back at him through his stupid finger circle, then went back to looking at his phone, “Why do you care?”

“I haven't been out alone with Zack on a real date in like...a while,” since Genesis left was what Cloud could have said if he was feeling _really_ mean.

Genesis not only left Sephiroth - he left his job, their apartment, and everything he couldn't fit in a bag. The only explanation he gave was that he'd spent enough of his life working, he'd reached the pinnacle of the Shin-Ra ladder, and that it was time to cash out and focus on his own inner peace.

Inner peace did not include Sephiroth, because what else did they really ever talk about but work? What else did they really do together besides train? When was the last time that they'd ever sat and watched a movie together? Or gone on a date? Had they _ever_ been able to do anything like that without it turning into a huge grudge match?

The job was what bonded them together, and if Genesis wanted to leave it behind it meant leaving Sephiroth behind, too.

Cloud and Zack had been the ones to help Sephiroth clean out the place of Genesis' belongings when it was clear this wasn't just an attention seeking tantrum... he really wasn't coming back. Even though it was Sephiroth's apartment, literally everything belonged to Genesis. It was like living in a storage facility for Genesis' shit that he didn't want anymore, himself included.

It took a whole weekend, and it was kind of gut wrenching to throw away such expensive stuff, but neither Sephiroth or Cloud or Zack was prepared to try to sell any of it or had any use for red leather, so to the dumpster it went. All of Genesis' clothes, posters, books, scented candles, movies, all his uncomfortable furniture, all the overpriced kitchen appliances he never used, all his bougie health food he never ate and always rotted away in the refrigerator – everything.

At the end of the weekend, Sephiroth's apartment consisted of his couch, a TV, a bed, exactly eight hangers in the closet with his clothes on them, one drawer that held his socks, and some whey protein shakes. He didn't own _anything_.

“I have my phone,” he answered to this concern.

“You're like an abandoned pet,” Zack had tried to joke. “I feel like I need to leave some water out for you before we leave.”

Sephiroth laughed at that, too long and too hard. It turned into tears and he cried in front of these two teenage idiots he barely knew. But people he barely knew treated him with more kindness and concern in two days than Genesis ever had.

Cloud didn't know what else to do when Sephiroth started to cry, so he'd just grabbed onto him and held him together while looking at Zack helplessly.

The next time they all had off together, they began to take Sephiroth shopping to discover his taste in order to fill the apartment back up. He was definitely a minimalist, but even minimalists have plants and books and maybe more than one pillow. Sephiroth's apartment was still pretty empty, but at least there was some kind of proof a person lived there.

When Christmas rolled around they couldn't just leave Sephiroth all by himself, so they invited him over to celebrate with them. And then the New Year came around and they made him come out to drink and dance with them, and when Sephiroth had nobody to kiss at midnight, Zack and Cloud had taken it upon themselves to kiss both Sephiroth's cheeks after they'd kissed each other.

Spring, summer, and fall came and went, and Sephiroth seemed to be permanently heartbroken. And if he wasn't actually heartbroken anymore, it had become a terrible habit. He refused to be set up with anybody, and turned men and women down all the fucking time. All he did was work, sulk, and follow Zack and Cloud around.

Sephiroth knew he was annoying, because he was also annoying himself. He didn't know how to change, though. He was trapped in his own angst.

“A real date,” Sephiroth repeated Cloud's accusation with a monotone snarl. “What's a real date?”

“One without you,” Cloud muttered, and then quickly added, “Looking like... that.”

“Like what?”

“Miserable!”

A deep scowl had permanently settled on Sephiroth's face the past year, “If a real date is one where I don't look miserable, then I haven't _ever_ been on a real date.”

“You're too pretty for that,” Cloud sat up tall and stretched a little, and scanned the bar. “Tell me who you'd do here.”

“I hate this game."

“You take it too seriously! It's not who would you marry, it's who would you _do_?”

“Myself.”

Cloud tsked at him and then looked around for somebody eligible. When he found one, he kicked at Sephiroth's boot underneath the table, “That guy. That blue tie guy.”

“I don't need to look to know I wouldn't do him.”

“Just look!”

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder. It was some dark haired guy in thick boxy glasses, a very purposely scruffy shadow on his face, and a tightly fitted navy blue suit. It was a really dedicated look, a really try-hard look, and Sephiroth hated him. He turned around to open his mouth to tell Cloud exactly why he hated this man, but Cloud already knew what he was thinking and was looking for somebody else.

“Him, in the red shirt,” Cloud suggested, and then clarified, “It's got little stripes going down it.”

Sephiroth looked, and the guy was dancing with himself and sipping a drink. There was no real physical reason why he wouldn't fuck this guy, but he just wouldn't. He was already shaking his head when Cloud pointed at a third person, “What about _him_ sitting at the bar talking to Zack?”

Sephiroth looked over his other shoulder. He knew damn well which guy Cloud was pointing out, but he decided to play dumb, “Who?”

“Angeal!”

Sephiroth supposed that visually, Angeal was okay. Sephiroth liked his dark hair, his body, his thick stature, his calm confidence. But there was something about him that felt so absent, like he was never really fully present. But as he was talking to Zack at the bar, their combined energy was magnetic, whatever they were talking about seemed fascinating because Zack was feeding off his energy and lit up in similar ways.

Cloud watched in wonder as Sephiroth didn't immediately turn down the notion of Angeal as a candidate. Like a careful hunter stalking a very scared animal, Cloud whispered, “... Let me help make this happen.”

Sephiroth had to smile as he turned back around, “Nothing's gonna happen.”

“Come on, he's besties with Zack, you have an in!”

“I work with him almost every single day of my life. If it was gonna happen, it'd have happened.”

“But you didn't have _me_ as a wingman! Wanna do this middle school style?”

“What?”

Cloud remembered that Sephiroth didn't have an especially normal upbringing and probably didn't know what middle school was. He rolled his wrists and searched for words, “Want me to just go ask him to come over and kind of hint that he should talk to you if he wants to be done?”

“No.”

“Would you rather he do you? Because I'm sure it can be arranged.”

The scowl on Sephiroth's face softened into that sweet, lost look that melted Cloud's heart, “Just stop. I can't. Okay?”

He sighed, and leaned on the table, “Sorry, I'm being a dick. But it's been over a year... don't you want to - ”

“Never,” Sephiroth answered, lost in his phone again.

“Sephiroth.”

“I just wanna drink my beer, and sit here on my phone so I'm not sitting in my apartment on my phone. Can you just help me fulfill my social quota? I'm gonna be gone for a while, you'll get plenty of time with Zack without me hanging around you.”

Now Cloud felt horrible, “I didn't mean I don't like hanging out with you.”

“Yes you did.”

“I specifically did not say that! I said I don't wanna hang out with you like _this_. Unhappy and on your phone. I wanna hang out with the old Sephiroth.”

“There _is_ no old Sephiroth. This was it.”

Cloud shut up and drank his beer. Maybe he just missed his old perception of Sephiroth before getting to know him. It was just too tragic to think that a real life superhero could exist in the world and be so lonely.

Zack returned with three new beers and sat down, “Guess what I just heard!"

“What?” Cloud asked, taking one for himself.

The two of them seemed to be communicating with their minds, and enough of a pause went by that Sephiroth finally looked up from his phone, “What?”

Cloud's eyebrows were moving too much, “Um, is this something to do with...?”

“What?” Sephiroth asked again, more intently.

“Genesis wrote a book,” Zack finally said.

Sephiroth's back went entirely vertical, “What? A book about what?”

“Not you,” Zack said, barely able to contain laughter. “It's a diet book.”

“A _diet_ book?”

“You know how like Midgar is like... we don't get some news here,” Zack tried to explain through laughter. “You know how Shin-Ra suppresses anything he doesn't like – ”

“I know _that_ ,” Sephiroth spat.

“Well, Genesis wrote a fucking diet book this year and apparently it's huge in the rest of the world. He's like doing a speaking tour on lifestyle kind of shit. Like's he's some kind of health guru or something, what an idiot!”

The words ' _not you_ ' had sent ice through Sephiroth's veins, and he was still feeling himself thaw out from it. Maybe it was the initial jolt of excitement of maybe having _some_ sort of look into Genesis' thoughts or opinions or feelings or even the lack thereof of their breakup and life together. Something, anything. And it having been a year and Genesis had so completely moved on, while Sephiroth hadn't moved anywhere was just... humiliating.

Sephiroth took another beer for himself and drank it in seconds. Then once it was gone, “I have to leave early tomorrow. I'm gonna go.”

“You sure?” Zack's face dropped, “Hey... I'm sorry. I thought it'd be funny.”

“Jerk,” Cloud hissed as though he was some sort of bastion of sensitivity.

“It is funny. I just have to go and I think Cloud would like to spend some time alone with you,” Sephiroth pulled some money out and put it on the table for them. “You two – take care.”

“Okay...” Cloud said, fully regretting everything he'd said.

“When will you be back?” Zack asked.

“Maybe a week, maybe a month. Angeal's going, too.”

“Are you going to be back in time for Christmas? Will you call us?”

Sephiroth shook his head, “Let's just plan to do something after New Year.”

Zack and Cloud looked at each other with twin expressions of dismay. Finally Cloud slowly turned his eyes back to Sephiroth, “Well, okay. Merry Christmas...”

“Happy New Year,” Zack offered.

Sephiroth hated being backed into a social corner where there was only a limited number of acceptable responses, just as much as he didn't give a shit about Christmas or New Year. But these were his friends, even if he sometimes didn't really like them and it seemed like sometimes they didn't really like him. But in much more meaningful ways, and far more often, they'd been the only authentic people he'd ever really had the chance to know.

“I appreciate you guys,” he forced himself to say, much to the delight and surprise of both of them.

As he made his way past the bar and to the door, he knocked on the table next to Angeal's beer, “See you in the morning.”

“Uh-huh,” Angeal returned with none of the energy he had speaking to Zack two minutes prior. His eyes didn't even move from the monitor showing a football game.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It wasn't even that early, really. Six in the morning saw a hint of sun on the horizon, and Sephiroth had experienced plenty of days that didn't end at all, they blended right into the next one with no end in sight. To sleep and wake and have to be somewhere was no great difficulty.

Not the case for Angeal, because the only thing he said to Sephiroth before immediately falling asleep against the airship window was, “Hey.”

Having two Generals go collect a monster sample was overkill, but that's the way Professor Hojo wanted it. There would be no room for error, and since winter usually meant downtime, it was the perfect opportunity to send the two top Commanders in the Shin-Ra army to do his bidding without getting in the way of their actual work.

It was the kind of mission that Sephiroth just ached to turn down, but what did he really have better to do? Maybe this was why Cloud and Zack were so adamant about including him in everything – the same reason Genesis left him.

Sephiroth was boring.

He settled into this realization with a heavy frown, and glanced over at Angeal with envy as he slept like a fucking baby. Sephiroth could never sleep on airships and didn't understand how the constant roar of the engine and shudder of mild turbulence over every cloud didn't keep people awake.

Through an especially bumpy patch of air, Sephiroth's envy turned to rage. The man just looked so peaceful. Angeal never had any problems at all, did he? He never seemed bothered by anything that went on, not even Genesis' abrupt departure. He'd never said anything about it. 

Sephiroth had a cup of water sitting on his tray table. Without thinking too much about it, he tapped it with the back of his hand and caused it to tumble right into Angeal's lap.

To his amusement Angeal didn't wake up right away, even though his body seemed to sense something was definitely up. He stretched out his legs and eventually opened his eyes to look down, and then reacted with a mildly startled, “Whoah, cold.”

Sephiroth gave him as much of an apologetic look as he could muster, “Sorry. Bad air.”

Angeal picked the now empty cup off his lap and set it back on Sephiroth's tray, “No problem, it's just water.”

Sephiroth's soft, neutral look dropped back into a scowl as Angeal went back to sleep.

The mission was to fly to the North Corel base, rent a Shin-Ra vehicle, and do whatever they needed to do to track down the monster. All they had to go on was that they'd 'recognize it when they saw it', which was really typical Shin-Ra speak when they had details they wanted to keep from them in order to test what they could personally do. The results of missions were always more interesting when SOLDIERs did what they wanted instead of being told, and Sephiroth was definitely no exception to that.

This mission felt like it was going to be a huge bore. Sephiroth was far more interested in generating misfortune for Angeal.

When the airship landed, Sephiroth managed to break the handle on Angeal's luggage bag, screw up the wheel by 'accidentally' kicking it, drop anything he tried to hand him, swipe all of Angeal's mission paperwork off the counter while he was filling out forms to rent a utility truck for them, and spilled gasoline all over Angeal's shoes at the motor pool's pump.

Angeal never, ever reacted beyond the most mild form of surprise. He didn't say anything at all.

It was a huge utility truck with a refrigeration unit where they'd store the monster once they collected the samples, and Sephiroth could only see more opportunities to cause aggravation in Angeal's life. But fucking up the rental would probably cause more aggravation for Sephiroth, so he just sat there looking at the mission packet and trying to decipher where the hell they were supposed to begin looking.

He finally spoke as they pulled out of the base, "Where are you going?"

"I dunno," Angeal shrugged as though this was an acceptable answer.

They were driving up and down the highway, watching for any tracks or signs of a monster worthy of capture. Sephiroth didn't know what the fuck they were doing there, and he was starting to suspect that Angeal had more details about this mission than he did.

So Sephiroth decided to torment Angeal by not ever stopping on any song or talk station – he just kept tuning, tuning, tuning. _Five hours_ went by like this.

Once they lost their daylight, Angeal finally spoke, “How about turning in for the night?”

They checked into a small highway hotel. Sephiroth almost wished they were still in their rookie days and would be forced to share a room, because there was a whole hell of a lot he could continue to do to prod Angeal into a reaction. But they had their own rooms, and Angeal carried his broken bag under one arm and just nodded with a kind-of grunt goodnight before shutting himself away.

This dragged on for an entire week, and the game grew tiresome for Sephiroth. Angeal seemed to have an endless supply of patience, and there was no inconvenience that would cause him to lose his shit. He also ate nothing but Shin-Ra rations, did nothing at the hotel except sleep, and really didn't say much of anything. He'd never really spent so much one-on-one time with Angeal, and Sephiroth was bored out of his mind.

On the ninth day he found himself watching the Western continent scenery roll by, completely lost in thought and not really thinking about the mission at all. Then something broke up the scenery – a billboard. It was for the motivational tour of the century, a limited engagement with the one and only, newly free from Shin-Ra and spiritually reborn Genesis Rhapsodos.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Sephiroth muttered in disbelief.

“Hm?” Angeal responded neutrally.

“Stop the car,” Sephiroth said.

Angeal obeyed immediately by swerving to the side of the highway, “Did you see something?”

“... Is this why we're here?” Sephiroth glared at _patient, saintly_ Angeal. “To bust up Genesis' stupid book tour? You know something about this, don't you? Have you been briefed separately from me?”

The way Angeal drew in breath told Sephiroth all he needed to know. But all he said was, “Yes.”

“Were you just gonna keep driving up and down this fucking highway until I noticed a billboard?”

“No. I was going to keep driving up and down this fucking highway until we saw his tour bus.”

Sephiroth had to laugh, “This is by far the stupidest mission I've ever been sent on. Why didn't you say anything?”

“No need, look how you figured it out on your own.”

“Let's just go get him,” Sephiroth was shaking his head in disbelief and looking at his phone. “Am I supposed to kill him?”

“Dead or alive.”

“I'll kill him,” Sephiroth decided easily. “He's got a talk tomorrow about two hundred miles from here. Start heading towards Gold Saucer.”

They did, and the scenery became emptier and more desolate as they drove into the desert. People rarely drove to the Gold Saucer as it was more of an aerial destination, and the highway felt especially lonely. It seemed they were losing daylight again, but having an actual destination was a little different than looking around aimlessly.

“We can keep driving until we get there if you like,” Angeal offered.

“Yeah, just keep...” Sephiroth watched as a very small car sped past them. “Hey. That's Genesis' car.”

“Are you sure? What are the odds th -”

“Get up beside it, I swear to god that's his car.”

“This is like an international tour, don't you think he's probably got a bus or a private - ”

“I'm telling you that that's his fucking car!”

Their truck was military grade and easily sped up beside the little red BMW that was oblivious to their presence. And there in the driver's seat, mostly looking at his phone while driving, was... Genesis?

He looked kind of different. But it was good enough for Sephiroth, he flung open the door of the truck and lept out onto the roof of Genesis' car. The brakes screeched and they went careening off the side of the highway and thudded to a stop on a dry patch of earth.

Angeal swerved to a stop, blocking the small car's chance for escape and got out of the truck, “You got this?”

“Of course,” Sephiroth easily slid down off the roof of the car and pulled open the drivers' door, and after a year of complete abandonment and silence, he looked down at a man who was definitely not Genesis.

But it wasn't... _not_ not Genesis. Sephiroth huffed in realization, “You're a clone.”

“Yeah, no shit!” the clone was struggling to breathe and unbuckled his belt, “Are you trying to give me a fucking heart attack?! You could have flagged me down like a normal person!”

“Where's Genesis?”

“At home!” the clone sighed and got out of the car.

“Where's home?” Sephiroth asked.

“He's not at the Gold Saucer?” Angeal also asked.

“I'm not telling you dipshits anything!”

Sephiroth materialized his sword, “Where's he at?”

“Ooooh scary,” the clone manufactured a shudder. “Look, Mr. Rhapsodos is sequestered on a writing retreat. He's working on his next literary gift to the world, and we're taking care of the speaking engagements and offering our editing and feedback on his latest work.”

“Who's _we_?” Angeal asked.

“The support team,” the clone answered, then sighed, “Five clones, but we all share a neural network in service of Mr. Rhapsodos.”

Sephiroth's head rolled back in disbelief, “He's not even doing his own fucking book tour, he's got clones doing all the work for him! I bet you're writing the book, too.”

“It's all for the cause! We believe in, live, and promote a lifestyle of - ”

“Shut the fuck up,” Sephiroth then looked up at the night sky for a moment before turning his eyes to Angeal. “What's the right move to make here?”

“Whatever you want,” Angeal shrugged a shoulder.

“I just... have a question for you,” Sephiroth looked into the clone's eyes. They weren't Genesis' but they were awfully close. “Why the hell did he leave without saying anything?”

The clone's mouth curled into a cruel smile that felt very familiar, “What was there to say?”

“Goodbye?” Sephiroth supplied.

“Why?”

“Because we lived together. We were _together_.”

“You were beside each other. You were never together. Not like he and his support team are together,” the clone said. “Once Mr. Rhapsodos had us, and realized his support team could be everything he ever wanted and more... there was no need for anyone outside our family.”

“... Would 'goodbye' really have been so hard for you?”

The clone rolled his eyes, “Still so needy, Sephiroth? I suppose I can't blame you. Standing in the sunlight of Mr. Rhapsodos' attention can certainly make life feel dark and cold in his absence.”

Sephiroth mentally chewed on that for a moment, and supposed he could live with being needy, because there were things he needed from people. Honesty was one of those things, and it was nice to be able to have a little from a face that looked kind of like Genesis', “... You never loved me, did you?”

That made the clone really, genuinely laugh, “You were convenient at best!”

“Thanks for the closure,” Sephiroth said before neatly slicing the clone's head off. He quickly used a focused, laser-like application of fire materia to cauterize the open wounds to make it a little cleaner to bring him back to Midgar.

Angeal, with all the patience he'd shown so far simply turned to look at Sephiroth, “I'll bag him and tag him. Go take a breather.”

“... Thanks.”

“No, thank you for not drawing it out any longer. I'm really over this mission.”

“Same here,” he said, and went back to sit in the car. He pulled out his laptop and began typing up his mission report, and detailing that the monster demonstrated too much personal will to be taken back to Midgar alive. Dead would have to be good enough for Professor Hojo's research.

Angeal made quick work of wrapping the clone's body in plastic and storing him in the truck's refrigerators for the journey back home. He got into the driver's seat, pulled back onto the highway and headed East for the closest naval base to catch a ship back over to the Eastern continent.

Sephiroth watched Genesis' car get smaller in the distance of the passenger-side mirror, the lights still on and the door still standing open.

“Send your report first,” Angeal said. “I'll match the story.”

“No story needed. I'm fine with the truth.”

“Okay,” Angeal agreed breezily.

“Nothing ever bothers you, does it?”

“Nope.”

“You didn't have to let me walk into that shit without knowing - ”

“I wanna make something very clear to you, Sephiroth. As far as I'm concerned, this mission is over. When I'm not on a mission I don't want to talk about work,” he looked over at him with steely eyes, “And I don't want to tip toe around you anymore, and I'm not putting up with your childish bullshit anymore, either. You break any more of my shit and we're gonna have some issues. Got it?”

Sephiroth was stunned for a moment, “... Where has _this_ guy been the past nine days?”

“Doing the job for both of us because you've been too emotionally compromised. But I don't want to talk about work, starting right now.”

Sephiroth was kind of impressed, “This is the most I've ever heard you say.”

“Because we're always working,” Angeal answered, and there was something kind of bitter in that statement.

“Well, if we're not working anymore... are you hungry?”

"Yeah," Angeal agreed, a hopeful lilt in his voice. "What do you like?"

“Not rations,” Sephiroth muttered.

“Me either. I only eat like that when I'm working. When I'm not working, I actually really like Wutainese food. But out here there's probably not much but diner food. Are you good with that?”

“... Do you have multiple personalities?”

“Nope. Just try really hard to separate work from my real life.”

“Work _is_ real life.”

“No it isn't,” Angeal said. And just the way he said it, it sounded so completely self-assured, so totally confident.

They drove off the highway and into a small town, where there was a breakfast diner built into a gas station that was open late. They sat in a small booth across from each other, and ordered literally half the small menu between the two of them.

They didn't speak, just sat on their respective phones until their food arrived.

Sephiroth literally felt like he was being internally healed when he took a drink of coffee and a first bite of his pancakes. He sighed through his nose and looked at Angeal, “I feel like I owe you an apology.”

“Accepted.”

“I didn't do it, yet.”

“Doesn't matter. Accepted,” Angeal said, chewing on some bacon. “It all happened at work, anyway. We're not at work right now, so we don't talk about work stuff.”

“... We've seen each other out of work plenty of times. You never talked to me like this."

“You're not the easiest person to talk to."

“I guess I don't really have much to say that's not about work,” Sephiroth said into a bite of eggs. "I'm just boring."

“Can I give you my honest opinion?”

“Sure," Sephiroth accepted, wincing slightly for impact to hear about how much of an asshole he was.

“You're not boring, Seph. You're brilliant, you're funny, and you're a combative and immature douche bag. But I have noticed since the day we started working together - you're always the _most_ kind and respectful to the people you have power over in the army. I think that says a lot about who you are. And you deserve way better than Genesis – he's a fucking clown and he treated you like shit. You're _hot_. Don't you know that?”

Sephiroth was speechless for several moments. He finally was able to open his mouth again to ask, “Are you?... I thought you were...”

“Straight? No,” Angeal said, taking a bite of his waffle.

“Gay?”

“Also no,” Angeal made eye contact with him. “That a deal breaker?”

“What deal?” A corner of Sephiroth's mouth curled up slightly, “This a date or something?”

“No. Hell no. We've got a body on ice in the truck, this isn't a date,” Angeal huffed with a smile, taking a big bite. “... But would you want to go on a date with me sometime?”

“I feel like I'm just meeting you for the first time.”

“You are,” Angeal agreed. “And I'm just meeting you, because I know there's more to you than the job.”

“I'm not so sure about that.”

“I am,” Angeal said with that certainty and confidence, and his smile became lopsided as he began working something out of his teeth inside his mouth.

Something about that lopsided smile and the twitch in the muscles in his jaw and neck made Sephiroth feel something he hadn't felt in a while. Tight heat spread across his lower stomach and he almost forgot what it felt like to be really _attracted_ to someone. That this sudden feeling was coming from someone he'd worked so closely with for so long, it was more than just a feeling of meeting the real Angeal for the first time, Sephiroth was _seeing_ him for the first time.

Sephiroth felt a wider smile cross his mouth, “So let's talk about something non-work related.”

“You start. Tell me something that you really like. What are you into?”

He didn't really need to verbalize that nobody had ever asked him this question in his entire life. He had to really excavate within himself for a moment for something non-work related of substance he really liked or cared about, and it was actually quite difficult when so much of his life was kind of built around resentment of pretty much everything and everyone around him.

After a false start or two, Sephiroth finally offered, “... Do you ever – do you like the stars?”

“What, like actors?”

Sephiroth let out a loud boom of a sound, “No. Actual stars, planets, comets... nevermind, it's stupid – ”

“No it's not, it's cool! I don't really know a whole lot about it.”

“I don't either. But I thought it was so amazing the first time I left Midgar and could really see the sky. That's at the top of the list of non-work things where I felt connected to... anything.”

“You ever been to that observatory in Cosmo Canyon?”

“No,” Sephiroth smirked. “Isn't that just for kids on school trips?”

“I think they'd let anyone in who buys a ticket. We have a long drive back to Midgar, I think we should make a detour.”

“You're serious?”

"We got a budget that account for over a month of travel. You haven't submitted your report yet, have you?"

"No..."

"Well, don't. We don't have to go right back."

They _did_ have a dead body on ice in their rental truck, so they didn't have all the time in the world, but it only added another day or so onto their travel time to take a sharp detour South to Cosmo Canyon. There actually were a couple of small groups of school kids in the observatory that afternoon, so the visit was decidedly academic feeling and they caught each other's eyes and smiled incredulously a few time during their tour. But sitting next to each other in the dark theater under a canopy of starlight, Sephiroth couldn't help reaching his fingers toward where Angeal's rested, waiting for any indication that it was okay to reach back. It was just the tips of their fingers touching, but Sephiroth felt more seen, heard, and connected in that moment than he had ever before in his life.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was the day before Christmas when Sephiroth and Angeal returned from their mission. They had debriefing and mission reports to finalize, and it was amazing to see Angeal revert right back to the work-mode persona that Sephiroth had come to know in the years working with him. They had stuck with a cool, casual goodbye and a loose plan to meet up the following week. Maybe. If they had time.

Sephiroth went directly to Zack and Cloud's apartment. The sudden addition to their Christmas Eve was a completely welcome one, because Sephiroth's energy was radically different than it had ever been. There was a light behind his eyes as he told them about the mission, and then everything that had happened afterward.

Sephiroth had long forgotten, but Cloud remembered with a big grin their conversation at the bar before he left, “So you're ready for a _real_ date, then?”

“I guess so...” Sephiroth looked between the two of them before finally asking, “I haven't done this in a while - do I fuck him on the first date?”

“Yes,” Cloud answered.

“No,” said Zack.

“Wait, what?” Cloud glared over at him, “Why not?”

“No real relationship comes from hooking up on the first date.”

“What about _us_ , idiot?”

Sephiroth was eating from a bowl of M&M's they had out on their kitchen table, “I take it you two fucked on the first date, then?”

“No way,” Zack proclaimed.

Cloud was incredulous, “Yes we did!”

“I'm not that easy.”

“Yes you _are_!”

Zack's phone rang, and he checked it and then a big grin lit up on his face, “Angeal is calling me! Should I answer it?”

“Yes!” was Cloud's answer.

“No,” was Sephiroth's.

Zack answered it on speakerphone, “Hey big guy, you finally back?”

“Yeah, just wanted to wish you guys a good one. What's that holiday you celebrate called?”

“Christmas,” Zack supplied.

“Sure, cute. So... hey am I on speakerphone?”

“Hey Angeal,” Sephiroth announced, and his bottom lip tucked in a little beneath his teeth as he looked at Zack's phone for the response.

“Hey...”

Cloud couldn't take it, he was a natural wingman afterall, “Have you got any plans tonight, Angeal? You should come over for a while!”

The four of them ended up sitting around their table, and it was like some sort of perfectly balanced dynamic was finally unlocked. No longer was it Cloud and Zack on one side of the table with Sephiroth sulking alone on the other side. And it wasn't just their world that just so happened to feature Sephiroth's dark and brooding presence - he had a place beside Angeal that felt so much more natural than he ever could have expected.

Hours went by and Sephiroth realized they didn't talk about work once. It was easy. And it was not boring.

Christmas Eve turned to early Christmas morning when they all finally said their goodbyes and saw themselves out of Cloud and Zack's apartment building. They found themselves alone on the normally much busier Midgar street. It was freezing cold, but not snowing. The sky was huge and black, but no stars could be seen in Midgar.

They stood together on the sidewalk, both unsure of what to do now.

“I really like you,” Angeal blurted out.

Sephiroth smiled, “I like you, too.”

“You wanna come over?”

“Yeah,” Sephiroth immediately answered. But then he backtracked, “You don't do like family stuff, or - ”

“No, hell no,” Angeal was shaking his head. And then he returned the question, “Do _you_ do any Christm– ”

“No,” Sephiroth was shaking his head, too. “I hate Christmas."

“I hate Christmas, too!” Angeal admitted with a laugh. "Why couldn't we finally hook up on a normal night?"

Sephiroth cupped his face with both gloved hands and pulled him into a kiss. It was quick and soft, but so warm in the crisp air.

When their lips separated, Angeal's eyes were still closed. He opened them, "... I really hate New Year, too."

Sephiroth kissed him again, rubbing his soft lips across the rougher texture surrounding Angeal's mouth.

"And fuck Valentine's Day," Angeal chuckled a little, and pulled Sephiroth's hips close when he felt a hot tongue slide into his mouth.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey SethSuffers, I hope you have a happy holiday! This combined like, all of your prompts into one awkward ball of third wheels, weird dates, and some bonus clone killing?? Honestly this story is all over the place but it's what they deserve.


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